“You’re thanking me for not interfering? Is this the same Raven who called me to help her with bears?”
I wiped the blood on the wolf’s coat before sheathing the daggers. “That was different, and you know it.”
“And that’s why I took a front-row seat. ’Tis a shame I didn’t have any popcorn.”
I put my arm around his waist as we walked. “You haven’t had popcorn in decades. What if you choked on a kernel?”
“Don’t you know CPR?”
“I think you mean the Heimlich maneuver. Don’t worry, I would serve popcorn at your funeral.”
When we reached the door, he opened it for me. “The only thing I want served at my funeral is revenge. Invite all my enemies and slaughter them.”
“Right before ‘Amazing Grace,’ I’ll douse the church with kerosene. How’s that?”
I jogged down the hot stairwell until I reached the door. After pressing my ear against it and listening, I cracked it open and peered through.
Christian yanked me away. “Anyone ever told you not to put your eyeball up to a crack?”
“No, but something tells me you’ve heard that a lot.”
“It’s all clear,” he said, jerking open the door.
We both rushed out and split apart, keeping the same stride as we ran toward the crossover. Down below, bodies littered the floor. Each room I passed, I glanced inside the open doorway and looked under furniture to make sure it was clear.
Wyatt jogged toward me, his face sweaty and hat missing.
“I checked the rooms,” I said. “All empty.”
He leaned on the railing to catch his breath. “There’s one more.”
“How do you know?”
He jerked his thumb at nothing behind him. “The freshy said there’s someone on the roof.”
“I was just up there. The guy’s dead.”
“Well, you missed the kid.” He fanned his shirt away from his chest. “All the others are loaded up in the vans. Tell Shep I’ll be right down.”
After he took off, I met with Christian, who had just crossed over the bridge.
“I didn’t hear any wee ones up there,” he remarked, brows furrowed.
“It’s a big roof. Lots of hiding spots. Maybe you were distracted, or maybe Wyatt’s finally lost his marbles.”
We headed toward steps that descended to the first floor. Blue was covered in blood spatters as she searched through a toy pile.
In the center of the room, Viktor’s wolf rose up on its hind legs and savagely attacked another wolf. The vicious snarls and snaps along with three dead wolves made me want to get the hell out of their way.
I reached Blue. “What are you looking for?”
She finally stood with a toy in her hand. “One of the kids wanted her dolly. I hope this is it, because we can’t stay much longer.”
“I’ll take care of the bodies and make sure we didn’t miss any children,” Christian said, stalking off.
I fell into step beside her as we headed back to the garage. “What do you need help with?”
“Getting everyone together, I guess. Once Viktor takes care of that last wolf, Shepherd’s going to set the place on fire to burn up evidence that we were here.”
“That’s a little dramatic.”
“It’s the only way to erase fingerprints in the Breed world. Sensory fingerprints, blood—you get the picture. Claude’s tracking down the women.”
“Are we taking them home?”
“Not the adults.” When Blue reached a well-lit area, she stopped and noticed the blood on her arms. “Viktor wants to give them money so they don’t wind up on the streets. Apparently, none of the kids belong to them. Anyhow, two of them took off, and the other one is sitting outside.”
“Maybe Christian should scrub their memories of us, just in case.”
She bent down and wiped her arms on her pants, trying in vain to get the blood off. “That’s a good plan. Someone might get the bright idea to blackmail us or report the incident to the higher authority.”
I kicked a bullet shell. “Technically, we didn’t do anything wrong. Those men were hurting the kids.”
“Yeah, but nobody hired us. That’s not how Viktor operates. He’s trying to protect us from an investigation, and there’s no way we could justify this bloodbath. Operations like ours aren’t supposed to go rogue.”
I handed her my leather coat. “Put this on. I’ll check outside the building. Maybe the women are just hiding.”
The kids were inside the vans parked by the garage, some crying and others firing off questions. Gem approached the back of one van and put on a light display, which quickly distracted them.
I veered left and walked down what was once flat concrete. Some of it had broken and shifted. Time had ravaged the property, weeds and vines erasing what man had once created. I peered behind a sheet of metal and then looked inside a patch of weeds as tall as me, scuttling backward when something slithered around my feet.
A piercing cry set me into motion, and I jogged around to the side. My eyes widened at the sight of Wyatt hanging halfway off the roof, both hands clutching the hand of a young girl no more than ten. She was slipping through his fingers. I bolted toward them a split second before she fell. I caught her, but not with grace. Our bodies collided, and then we fell in a heap. A few seconds later, a sickening thud hit the ground behind me.
“You okay?” I rubbed my shoulder and sat up.
The girl lifted her arm, her elbow bleeding and covered in grit. Judging by the knot on her temple and my throbbing lip, we must have smacked our heads together during the catch. I twisted around and gasped when I saw Wyatt.
“Niko!” I shouted. “Someone help!”
The first person on the scene was Shepherd. When he caught sight of Wyatt, he holstered his gun and dropped to his knees. “What happened?”
“He fell off the roof.”
Shepherd glanced up. “Jesus fuck.” He rolled Wyatt onto his back. “Open your eyes! You in there?”
“I didn’t see it happen,” I explained. “He was hanging upside down, so I don’t know how he landed.”
Shepherd felt for a pulse. “He’s still alive. I can’t sense anything but the pain he felt hitting the ground.” After assessing his neck, Shepherd reached inside his back pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.
“Do you want me to get your bag out of the van?”
He pressed the cloth to the gash on Wyatt’s head. “Niko!” he shouted over his shoulder. “Get your ass over here!” Then he glanced at the girl. “How about the kid?”
“My arm hurts,” she whimpered.
“It might be broken,” I whispered to Shepherd.
He reached over and touched her knee. His palm glowed red, and the girl sighed with relief. While he couldn’t heal her, he could temporarily remove her pain.
Niko navigated the uneven ground as quickly as he could. He must have read everyone’s light, because he went to the girl first. “Give me your arm, little one. Don’t be afraid.”
The girl quit clutching her elbow, and Niko gingerly held it.
“Can you do that on a kid?” I asked.